Despite exiting the show in meme-worthy fashion, arguably the greatest gift a modern TV actor could hope for, Irish Game of Thrones alumnus Jack Gleeson has revealed he would have liked for King Joffrey to suffer a more brutal demise than being poisoned two seasons ago. Speaking at New York Comic Con over the weekend, the 24-year-old actor told the crowd he’d have preferred something more “ironic” for every audience member’s most hated villain.
“Shot by a crossbow or something?” Gleeson told those in attendance of the Game of Thrones panel. “Or maybe he could just die in a really dumb way, like falling off a cliff or something. You know, like the Darwin Awards.”
The actor is currently working on stage as part of the Dublin-based company Collapsing Horse Theatre, which recently mounted a production of their well-received puppet show Bears in Space off Broadway. Having spent four seasons on one of the most popular television shows in the world, Gleeson said he fondly remembered the show, but that “the novelty kind of wears off after a while”. Despite that, he was happy to slip back into character when asked by a fan to do his Joffrey voice:
A fan asked Jack Gleeson to do a Joffrey bit on the spot, and he did it! #NYCC #GameofThrones pic.twitter.com/yhycAkVeYG
— yohana desta (@YohanaDesta) October 7, 2016
When a member of the audience then asked Gleeson who he thought would end up in the seat he once occupied on the Iron Throne, the former cast member said he thought no-one would. Gleeson added his weight to one current fan theory that suggests that the show’s uncomfortable looking throne will end up being smelted down so that its Valyrian steel can be used to fend off the White Walkers.
“I think that’s kind of a cool idea. The monarchy is literally dissolved,” Gleeson said.
Game of Thrones is currently filming its seventh and penultimate season in a number of locations around Europe, including Northern Ireland.
